


I Know It Sounds Fake

by BuckeyeKitty



Series: I Know It Sounds Fake [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Don't Trust the Mask, Dream talk to your friends, First Meeting, Fluff, It's set in a time, NO ONE KNOWS, Nightmares, Not Beta Read, Panic Attacks, The Author Regrets Nothing, can be read as romantic or platonic, is it 2020, meeting up, not even the author, probs ooc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:49:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27600274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuckeyeKitty/pseuds/BuckeyeKitty
Summary: Dream can't remember the fights during manhunts. What happens when his friends get angry and bail the recording? How will they react to the truth?orDream doesn't remember the fights, he's getting nightmares. Dream and Sapnap visit George in the UK.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Antfrost, Clay | Dream & Darryl Noveschosch, Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: I Know It Sounds Fake [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2017897
Comments: 6
Kudos: 141





	1. What Was That?

**Author's Note:**

> Ya'll asked for this.
> 
> Enjoy!

“What the Hell, Dream!”

“What?” A little bit of left over laughter creeps into his voice, not his laughter, though his friends don’t know that.

“Why did you do that?” George asked, in the same annoyed tone as his previous statement.

“Do what?” There was genuine confusion in his voice, but his friends were too angry to realize that.

“You know what you did.”

“Buddy has left the channel”  Three disconnection messages.

‘GeorgeNotFound has left the game, Sapnap has left the game, BadBoyHalo has left the game.’

“I didn’t, I don’t know, what did I do?” He ended his recording and jumped around in the footage until just before George blew up at him.

He had gone out of his way to kill them while they were trying to get resources back from the last time he killed them, a necessary kill, he should have just gone to the end, he had the portal filled and all the resources to fight the Ender Dragon, the hunters were just gather resources, going into the end would have freaked them out, especially since they had lost all their stuff when he had killed them. Why did he kill them?

He finally logged out of Minecraft and went offline on Teamspeak. He logged out of his computer and stood up. He glanced at his phone, still on, do not disturb from recording, he thought about picking it up. He left his phone and walked out of the room.

* * *

The three hunters had been talking about what happened, heatedly, now they were less angry and were talking about how Dream was acting after he killed them before they left.

“Dream sounded genuinely confused,” Bad said.

“Why would he be confused?” George asked.

“He seemed different,” Sapnap said.

“No different to when we’ve fought before,” George said.

“But that’s different to how he was acting when he was collecting ender pearls and when he speedruns,” Sapnap pointed out.

“Sap’s right,” Bad said.

“I guess,” George said, “But why? Why would he be different?”

“That’s the question,” Sapnap said.

“Guys, he went fully offline,” Bad spoke up.

  
  


Dream had warmed up some leftovers and sat on his couch, he hadn’t turned anything on as he didn’t feel like moving to grab it.

“I hate the control it has over me,” he muttered.

He finished eating and went back to pick up his phone, he noticed a lot of texts from George, Bad, and Sapnap and a handful of texts from others. He responds to the few not from the friends he had been recording with. He read through the worried questions and decided on one question to answer,  _“_ _Why are you offline?”_

The Four Muffinters

_“Sorry for dipping, since the recording was a fail, I decided to have dinner a little early. I accidentlally left my phone on do not disturb and forgot it in my office”_

He sighed, “They’re going to question me the moment we get on a call.”

* * *

Three Hunters

Sapnap: _“I believe he got food, I don’t believe he forgot his phone.”_

Bad:  _“He ignored every other question, except the ‘Why are you offline?’ one.”_

George:  _“I hate to say it but, we shouldn’t go looking for answers, trying to pry it out of him won’t work.”_

_“It didn’t over text, it won’t work over voice unless he wants it to.”_

Sapnap:  _“I agree, but I hate that, that’s the answer.”_

Bad:  _“He probably thinks we’re going to question him immediately.”_

Sapnap:  _“I got it.”_

The Four Muffinters

Sapnap:  _“Vaild, you can tell us about what ever happened today whenever you’re ready!”_

* * *

Dream sat there staring at his phone, _They’re not going to question him immediately? What?_

His hands were shaking as he typed his response.

_“Ok, Thanks.”_

He pressed the power button on his phone, he took a deep breath and decided to take a shower, maybe he’ll play a game before bed, or maybe watch a show or movie.

* * *

Three Hunters

George:  _“I’m worried about him.”_

Sapnap:  _“Same”_

Bad:  _“Me too.”_

* * *

Dream was in the shower, he had washed his hair and body already, he was just standing under the hot water thinking.

_They deserve an explanation, but I don’t even know how to explain it to myself. I get possessed by a smiley face mask who wants to murder everyone, but it only takes control when I’m fighting in Minecraft. Sounds stupid. Sounds fake-_

He let out a bitter and sad laugh, “It sounds fake even to me, they’re going to think I’m making it up.”

He finished his shower and put on some sweatpants and a shirt. (Yes he put on underwear)

He grabbed his phone and sat on his couch, he absently turned on some Netflix show he had been re-watching.

After watching a couple of episodes he turned it off and got into bed, Patches hopped onto the bed next to him.

“Hi baby.”

“Meow.”

He pet her in silence.

He drifted off to sleep

The next day

He woke up from a sleep plagued with the stupid smiley face mask, the stupid, stupid, smiley face mask.

He sighed and slipped out of bed. As he was getting ready for the day he couldn’t stop thinking about how to tell his friends.

“Everything I say just sounds fake.”

A beat.

“What if it is fake, what if I’m just making it all up?” He started to panic, what if he’s making everything up.

A text tone rang out pulling him out his spiraling thoughts.

Gogy:  _“Do you want to join stream?”_

_“Sure, just let me get set up, I’ll join Teamspeak in a sec.”_

Once he got to his office and booted up his computer, he brought up Teamspeak and joined George’s call.

“Look who finally decided to show up,” George teased.

“I only woke up like an hour ago, and you texted me like 5 minutes ago.”

George laughed, “Say Hi to Chat Dream.”

“Hi Chat.”

He watched George’s chat fill with _‘Hello’_ messages.

“What are we doing today George?” He asked, loading his Minecraft.

“Death Swap.”

“K.”

“We’ll switch to something else after a bit, Sap’s got schoolwork so he can’t join us.”

“Ha, Imagine having schoolwork, Loser.”

George laughed, “Truly.”

They did several death swap rounds before going onto the SMP server.

As they were playing, Dream missed a few jumps he usually makes and is just a little off his game, well he’s been off his game for a while now.

A Dono popped up on George’s stream that read, **‘Is Dream okay? He’s been acting a bit off since he joined.’**

“I’m fine, just had a bit of a rough morning after a long night.”

“And yet he still joins me on stream.”

“I, just, love you that much, and you still won’t say it back.”

“Oh my good, you’re so dramatic Dream.”

They both laughed.

George ends the stream later on Clay makes himself lunch.

The Four Muffinters

Sapnap:  _“I finished my schoolwork, I’m free!”_

_“For today.”_

Sapnap:  _“Dream! Don’t remind me ;(“_

George:  _“Do remind him.”_

Sapnap:  _“Bad! Dream and George are making fun of me!”_

Bad:  _“Be nice.”_

George:  _“No :P”_

_“Lol, Rip Sap.”_

Sapnap: _ “  How was your stream George?” _

George:  _“Good, Dream joined me for most of it.”_

_“That I did.”_

Three Hunters

George:  _“He was off during stream, he said he had a rough morning after a long night. I don’t think he’s lying but I also think he’s not telling us everything.”_

Sapnap:  _“He’s not ignoring us, which is good, right?”_

Bad:  _“Right.”_

* * *

Clay lounged around his apartment for most of the day. He would answer his friends when they texted him and scroll through his twitter feed.

The fans were a bit worried about how he had acted during George’s stream, they were theorizing about what his ‘rough morning’ entailed.

After he ate dinner he brought up his coding program and continued whatever he was coding last. He worked for three hours until his eyes started to droop. He saved his work and shut off his computer. As he walked to his room his mind with all his nightmares, all the nightmares of him killing his friends. He sighed, now his body was tired but his mind was racing. He brushed his teeth and changed his clothes. He slipped into bed, Patches joined him.

“I need to tell them, don’t I?”

“Meow,” she rubbed against his hand.

He started to pet her, “How do I tell them without it sounding fake?”

“Meow?” She bonked his forehead with her face.

“Thanks for the bonk, sweetheart.”

Both Human and Cat fell asleep.

The next day

Clay had woken up pretty well rested, despite the fact the nightmares were still there.

The Four Muffinters

_“Once Sap’s done with his schoolwork for today can we all get on a Teamspeak call?”_

George:  _“Sure.”_

Bad:  _“Of course.”_

Sapnap:  _“I’ll let you guys know when I finish, I don’t have as much had yesterday, thankfully.”_

_“See you guys then.”_

Sapnap:  _“Don’t you mean Hear?”_

Bad:  _“Do your work, Sap.”_

* * *

Three Hunters

George:  _“Do you think that the call is about what happened?”_

Sapnap:  _“I hope so.”_

Bad:  _“If it’s not don’t be disappointed.”_

George:  _“Of course.”_

Sapnap:  _“I’m going to do my work now, nobody bother me.”_

_“Unless someone is dying.”_

George:  _“Lol”_

* * *

The Four Muffinters

  
_“I’m done.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope You Enjoyed!
> 
> Kudos and Comments are Appreciated!


	2. An Explanation

Clay was staring at Sap’s text for only a few seconds before he stood up from the couch and went to his office, booted up his computer, and pulled up Teamspeak.

“Buddy had joined your channel” 

“Hey Sap.”

“Hi Dream.”

He knew he was going to have to ask them to call him Clay, Dream was one step away from sending him spiraling.

“Buddy had joined your channel” 

“Buddy had joined your channel” 

“Sap, did you actually finish all your work or did you just want to put it off?” Bad asked.

“I actually finished.”

“Good.”

“Dream, what did you want to talk about?” George asked.

Patches jumped up onto his lap and he took a breath.

“First, during this conversation can you all call me Clay, instead of Dream.”

“Sure..” George said.

“Second, please don’t stop me, please let me talk, no matter how crazy it sounds.”

“We’ll listen,” Sapnap said.

“Thank you.”

He paused and took a breath.

“I’m sorry, I know you’ve been confused these past couple days, you deserve an explanation, and I’m stalling. Okay, okay,” He nervously chuckled, “Fuck this is harder than I thought,” Another deep breath and a hand ran through his hair, “When I fight in Minecraft, a smiley face mask, who wants to kill everyone, posses me and goes after you guys even if I shouldn’t be doing that. It’s sounds so stupid when I say it out loud. It sounds so fake. You guys probably think I’m insane. You don’t have to believe me. I know it sounds fake. I’m sorry. I’m so so sorr-”

“Clay,” George said, “You’re okay. Breathe please.”

_He wasn’t breathing?_

“Clay, Clay, listen to me, breathe in for four,” Sapnap-Nick said.

He did, he took a shaky breath.

“Good now hold it for seven.”

He did.

“Now breath out for eight.”

He let out the breath.

Nick led him through the breathing exercise a couple more times.

“I-Thanks Nick.”

“No problem,” Clay could hear the soft smile in his voice.

“So you get possessed by a smiley face mask?” George asked.

“Yes, I know it-”

“I believe you,” Bad cut it.

The call was silent.

“What?” Clay asked, quietly, scared it was his imagination.

“I believe you,” Bad repeated, “If it was fake you wouldn’t be so worried about it sounding fake.”

“Oh,” he wasn’t expecting any of them to believe him so easily.

“Plus we’ve noticed that you act differently during fights than when you do anything else,” Nick said.

“Yeah that makes sense, since it’s not me.”

A moment of silence.

“Clay, are you okay, that doesn’t sound very good, it sounds traumatic almost,” George asked, worry heavy in his voice.

“I’m fi-,” He bit off his normal response, “I’m not, I’m not okay, but every therapist ever is going to think I’m crazy.”

“Say it was a very real feeling, recurring nightmare,” Nick offered.

“Yeah maybe.”

“We’re going to have to tell Ant, for when he becomes the fourth hunter,” Bad said.

“Yeah, but I don’t think I can repeat it again today.”

“And your not allowed to, you almost had a panic attack,” Nick said.

“That was the rough morning, I was in the beginning of a panic attack when George texted me,” He blurted out.

“You didn’t have to say yes,” George said.

“I wanted a distraction.”

“I’m almost scared to ask, what was the long night?” Bad asked.

“I didn’t get good sleep, I had a lot of nightmares, mainly of killing you guys, and I couldn’t stop it.”

“Clay, next time that happened call us, tell us, or even just one of us, Okay?” George said.

“I will.”

“Promise?” Nick asked.

“I promise.”

“Good, good.”

“Ant’s coming, we’ll explain,” Bad said.

“Okay.”

“Buddy had joined your channel” 

“Hello?” Antfrost’s voice followed the connection message.

“Hey!” Nick said.

“Hello,” George greeted.

“Hey Ant.”

“Okay, so I didn’t really tell him anything,” Bad said.

“He just told me to get on Teamspeak if I could,” Ant confirmed.

“It’s about me but I’m not explaining it again because I forgot to breathe last time,” Clay said before they could start, “Also, yes it sounds fake, no it’s not fake.”

“Okay?”

The three hunters explained what happened to the fourth and Clay zoned out, he was petting Patches, which he had been doing since he calmed down. He was thinking about how to continue the code he was working on currently.

He zoned back in when they were finishing up.

“Clay, you still here?” Nick asked.

“Yeah, just zoned back in actually,” He chuckled.

“Clay?” Ant started uncertainty.

“Yeah, Ant?”

“I know we’re not as close as you are with other people on this call, but I’m here if you need to talk.”

He smiled though his friends couldn’t see it, “Thanks.”

“Now, I got some work to do.”

“Sorry, for pulling you away,” Clay said.

“It’s fine, I don’t mind, this was important.”

Goodbyes went around for Ant.

“Buddy has left your channel” 

“Clay,” George said, after a moment of silence.

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry for blowing up at you.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not, I shouldn’t have done that.”

“You didn’t know.”

“And you didn’t know what you did.”

“You didn’t know I didn’t know, It was a bad decision anyway, I could have and should have gone to the end.”

“What!” Nick exclaimed.

“Yeah, I had just gotten the final pearl when you guys snuck up on me.”

The three hunters groaned.

“We had nothing,” George muttered.

“And Clay probably burned all our stuff,” Nick said.

“I did.”

“What, Clay, why didn’t you know what was happening?” Bad asked.

“Oh, I have no memories, unless it wants me to, of pretty much any of the fights since Manhunt started. I see them for the first time when I edit.”

“Why didn’t you mention it?” George asked.

“I thought I was making it up or going crazy, but I realized I wasn’t, and I didn’t want you guys to think I’m crazy and leave.”

“We wouldn’t have done that,” Bad said.

“If you had started with that I probably would have, sorry Clay,” George said.

“I knew you before the whole YouTube thing so you’re stuck with me,” Nick said.

“That’s fair, George, but I didn’t realize until after I met you,” He said, “Thanks Bad. I wouldn’t have it any other way Nick.”

“Are you okay with doing Manhunts?” George asked.

“Yeah, as long as you guys are patient with me.”

“Of course,” Bad said.

“Thanks guys.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope You Enjoyed!
> 
> Comments and Kudos are appreciated!


	3. Nightmare

A week later

“Oh George~” 

Blood ran on the floor, mixing with the tears of the very people it came from. 

The mask was heavy, constricting on his face and the sword was heavy in his hand. 

George’s pleading, his crying was white noise. 

The sword was going down, swinging down to hit George- 

He bolted up in bed, hyperventilating, he couldn’t breathe. Black creeped onto the edge of vision, _that’s what it looked like when it took control._ His phone was ringing, _no_ , his phone was calling someone, _Who was he calling?_

“Hello, why are you up? It’s late over there.”

_George, he’d called George._

“Dream?”

He choked, _Not that, no, that’s not, no, he couldn’t._

George said something else, he couldn’t hear it.

_He was supposed to be doing something. What was he supposed to be doing? Breathing, he was supposed to be breathing. Why wasn’t he breathing?_

“Clay,” George’s voice cut through, “Breathe in for a count of four.”

He brought in a shaky breath, or he tried to. It hitched and he couldn’t keep it.

“Try again, Clay, you’re okay.”

He tried again, he was successful this time.

“Okay, hold for seven.”

He did.

“Now, out for eight.”

It came out shaky and he let out a quiet sob.

George’s voice as he led him through the exercise several times.

Now he was just crying.

“Clay? You’re okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“I bothered you.”

“No you didn’t, you don’t bother me.”

“You’re streaming.”

“You are more important, Clay.”

He let out a sob.

“Clay, you’re okay, I’m okay, everyone is okay.”

“They were dead, Nick, Bad, Ant, it was going for you, you were pleading begging, crying, the sword was swinging, it was going to hit you.”

“Clay, They’re okay, Nick, Bad, Ant, are okay, they’re asleep , safe, in their homes. I’m okay. Nothing’s happened to us, it was a nightmare, we’re okay.”

He hiccuped, “It felt so real.”

There was a sigh, “Clay, is Patches around?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Can you hug her, pet her, ground yourself for me?”

He reached out for Patches. She walked over to him and sat herself in his lap. He pet her. He stopped crying.

“Thanks.”

“You’re Welcome.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t get to apologize for having emotions.”

He chuckled.

“I’m playing some Fall Guys, want to play?”

“Sure, I’m not going to sleep anyway, I’ll be a minute though, I have to set up.”

“Set up? You’re not going to stream are you?”

“No, but I have to boot up my computer and the game, I’ll join Teamspeak as soon as possible.”

“Okay, Hear you in a bit.”

“Wait, what are you going to tell the viewers?”

“You needed some help with some code.”

“Okay, Hear you in a bit.”

“Hear you in a bit.”

* * *

My phone started ringing, it was playing Dream’s ringtone.

“Dream’s calling me one second,” I muted my mic for the stream.

“Hello, why are you up? It’s late over there.”

Nothing, I listened closely, there was barely there breathing, trying to breathe.

“Dream?”

He choked.

_One of these days, nightmare probably._

I unmuted my mic, “I’ll be back, This will take a bit longer than I thought.” I muted my mic and turned off my webcam.

“Clay, Breathe in for a count of four.”

A shaky breath in, but it hitched.

“Try again, Clay, you’re okay.”

Another shaky breath in, but this one was successful.

“Okay, hold in for seven.”

He did, and I relaxed by a minuscule amount.

“Now out for eight.”

He let it out, it shook and a quiet sob came over my phone.

I led him through the exercise several more times. He was breathing normally but now he was crying, sobbing.

“Clay? You’re okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

_What?_ “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“I bothered you.”

I almost scoffed, “No, you didn’t, you don’t bother me.”

“You’re streaming.”

_So?_ “You’re more important, Clay.”

A sob. _It hurt to not be able to be there._

“Clay, you’re okay, I’m okay, everyone is okay.”

“They were dead, Nick, Bad, Ant, it was going for you, you were pleading, begging, crying, the sword was swinging, it was going to hit you,” He got out between sobs.

“Clay, They’re okay, Nick, Bad, Ant, are okay, they’re asleep safe in their homes. I’m okay. Nothing’s happened to us, it was a nightmare, we’re okay.”

Clay hiccuped, “It felt so real.”

I sighed, _I wish I was there with him, helping him in person, being able ground him through touch,_ “Clay is Patches around?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Can you hug her, pet her, ground yourself for me?”

I heard shuffling and the crying slowly stopped.

“Thanks.”

“You’re Welcome.”

“I’m Sorry.”

“You don’t get to apologize for having emotions.”

A chuckle.

“I’m playing some Fall Guys, want to play?”

“Sure, I’m not going to sleep anyway, I’ll be a minute though, I have to set up.”

“Set up? You’re not going to stream are you?”

“No, but I have to boot up my computer and the game, I’ll join Teamspeak as soon as possible.”

“Okay, Hear you in a bit.”

“Wait, what are you going to tell the viewers?”

“You needed some help on some code.”

“Okay, Hear you in a bit.”

“Hear you in a bit.”

He hung up.

I turned back on my webcam and unmuted my mic, “Dream needed some help with a code, I’ve convinced him to play Fall Guys with me.” I opened Teamspeak, creating a channel.

“Buddy had joined your channel”

“Didn’t take much convincing.”

“It didn’t but you weren’t on board right away.”

“It’s late.”

“You’re the one who called me.”

“I did. I’m almost in the game.”

“Good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope You Enjoyed!
> 
> Kudos and Comments are Appreciated!


	4. You Didn't Have To Do That

‘Dream acts so different when he’s fighting.’

‘Is Dream okay? He acts so different when he’s fighting the hunters.’ 

‘Dream is so psycho, lol, but only when fighting.’ 

Speedrunner vs Four Hunters

_“The viewers are catching on.”_

Antfrost:  _“It’s fine, as long as they don’t call out what’s happening, they’ll just think you do it to scare us.”_

Sapnap:  _“Which is what you should say if they ask.”_

George:  _“What we should all say if they ask.”_

_“Right.”_

Sapnap:  _“I’m about to drop kick a child.”_

_Oh, right Sap was streaming._

_“Tommy?”_

Sapnap:  _“What other child would I drop kick?”_

I joined the voice channel.

“Sap, don’t drop kick anyone, you can’t drop kick people in the game anyway.”

“You can’t stop me, I will fly across the ocean to drop kick someone.”

“Sap no,” I was trying to hold back laughter.

“Buddy has joined your channel” 

“If you come over to England, you have to visit me,” George said.

I lost the battle against my laughter.

“Of course, that’s also on the plan, drop kick then visit George.”

“Oh my god,” I wheezed.

“For chat, Sap texted I’m about to drop kick a child to the group chat.”

Sapnap chuckled.

“This is so stupid,” I said.

“Says the one who is currently dying of laughter.”

George laughed.

Bad:  _“NO! No drop kicking anyone!”_

“Fine, you win Bad. I won’t drop kick anyone.”

I laughed harder.

“Come visit me still, spring break.”

“I wish, so much money though,” Sapnap sighed.

I finished laughing, “I’ll go too, I could pay for Sap.”

“Dream no, you can go, don’t pay for me, you don’t have to do that.”

I gave a noncommittal hum. I brought up fights to Brighton from Houston for spring break. I donated enough for both the to and from tickets plus what tax will be, and typed out **“Book the flights on stream”**

“DREAM!” Sapnap exclaimed

“Yes?” I laughed.

‘Dream is Chaotic Good’ filled the chat.

“Freakin’ fine.”

“Dream you said you’d come to, do you have your tickets.”

“I’ll book my flights when the vlog is up.”

George groaned.

“I booked the flights, screw you.”

I laughed, and grabbed my phone bringing up Nick and I’s messages.

_“You know I donate the money for the flights cause I love you and I want us all to meet up, right?”_

I heard him sigh.

Nick:  _“I do, yeah.”_

_“Can we talk later?”_

_“Of course.”_

“Are you two going to play Minecraft with me or just sit and talk?”

“I’ll be talking, I’m editing the vlog.”

“I’m working on a new plugin, so talking for me too.”

George went to bed after editing for a while.

Sapnap and I talked throughout the rest of his stream.

Sapnap ended his stream but stayed in the call.

“Nick, what did you want to talk about?”

“I know you gave the money so we can all met up, but I still have to ask why?”

“I did it because I love you, you’re my friend, one of my best friends and I want to see both of my best friends in the same space.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know, I wanted too.”

He was silent.

“Nick...you and I both know one of my main ways of showing affection is through touch.”

“Can I see you,” He didn’t whisper it but it was quiet and hesitant. 

_Why is he worried that I would say no. He’s seen my face plenty of times and I only don’t want to show my face the first time someone asks. If they’ve already seen my face before I don’t care. I need to see his face though, I can see what he’s feeling, he can’t hide it._

“Only if I can see you.”

He chuckled, “Of course.”

I click the show video button.

Nick appeared a second later. His eyes were a tiny bit puffy.

“Nick, are you okay,” I didn’t even try to hide the concern in my voice.

“Yeah, I just had a nightmare last night.”

“Do you want to talk about it, you don’t have to though.”

“It started nice, the three of us meeting up, but then you and George got in a crash, and it just, I couldn’t. I don’t know.”

“It’s okay, we’ll be okay, George can’t even drive, we’ll just walk everywhere.”

Nick laughed, his eyes lit up as they always did when he laughed.

“George is going to try and finish the vlog as soon as possible, isn’t he,” Nick said.

“Yeah, he has a deadline now, Spring Break and something to lose.”

“You not going.”

“Not being able to see his best friends in real life at the same time.”

A pause then.

“Clay?”

“Yeah?”

“How are you doing?”

“Pretty good, a bit nervous when uploading a video or stream but pretty good.”

“Get any nightmares.”

“Not anymore then I tell you guys about.”

He was silent.

“I promise, I’ve told you guys about all of them.”

“Okay.”

“You don’t believe me,” I almost whined.

“I do!” His eyes were defiant.

“Really?” My unbelieving creeping into my voice.

“Yes, I do.”

I observed his body language and expression, he didn’t seem to be lying, “Glad you believe me, cause I’m not lying.”

He chuckled.

We talked for a bit longer.

“Thanks Clay, for talking to me.”

“Of course, but you’re welcome.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope You Enjoyed!
> 
> Kudos and Comments are Appreciated!


	5. Almost Together

2 weeks later

**‘The Long awaited Dream in the UK Vlog will be live at 8pm WET.’** George’s latest tweet read.

Clay sat at his computer, George’s YouTube channel open on his computer, the clock it's 4:00pm. He refreshed the page, it was there, The Vlog was live.

He opened up flights from Orlando to Brighton, the same time as Sapnap’s flights were. He booked his flights, landing in Brighton 10 minutes after Sapnap’s flight. He took a picture of his tickets, quickly but thoroughly blocking all his personal information.

**‘I promised something, Here it is. The picture showed a computer screen with two tickets, one going from Orlando to Brighton, the other going from Brighton to Orlando, black boxes covering all personal information.’**

Sapnap replied, almost as soon as it was posted, **‘I’m so hyped!’**

He smiled, _he couldn’t want for Sapnap’s Spring Break._

The rest of the day his twitter feed was filled with hype from the vlog and **“OMG he actually did it!”**

Midway through his day, George asked to chat with him and Sapnap.

Clay joined the voice channel.

“Clay!”

“Hey George!”

“Buddy has joined your channel” 

“Hey Sap!”

“Hello Losers.”

The three laughed.

“Twitter’s going insane,” Sapnap laughed.

“We gave them a lot today,” Clay said.

“Yeah, the vlog, you buying your tickets,” George agreed.

“I said I would.”

“We’re going to meet up, Oh My God!” Sapnap exclaimed.

“I can’t wait to see you both,” George said.

“Same,” He agreed.

“When is your flight going to land?” Sapnap asked.

“If all goes according to plan, 10 minutes after yours.”

“I can’t drive how are we going to get your stuff to your hotel?”

“Taxi,” Sapnap said.

“Carry it.”

George snorted.

“We’re not bringing our PCs or anything we’ll be fine.”

They talked about plans for once they were all together.

\----------------------

“Clay, you paid for all four of the flights, I’m paying for the fuckin hotel.”

\----------------------

“You’re NOT meeting my mum.”

“Yes we are.”

“Fine,” He sighed.

\----------------------

“Should we try and meet up with, like Wilbur and others?”

“Meet up with _Tommy_ , Oh my God yes!”

“No drop kicking him though.”

\----------------------

As talk of plans slowed down, Clay asked a question that had been on his mind the whole call.

“Is it okay if I hug you guys?”

“Yes,” Nick said with no hesitation.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” George said.

“Yes!”

They both chuckled.

\----------------------

They finished up the call, having booked a two queen bed hotel room for their entire trip, Sapnap paying for it. They messaged some of their other UK friends to see if they could meet up at some point during their trip.

  
  


The Day before the Flights

Clay was packing his clothes into his rolling suitcase, he made sure his laptop was charging, as well as his phone. He double checked that he had everything he needed and the time of his flight. He set an alarm on his phone, then he fell asleep.

  
  


Nick was packed, he debated streaming but he knew he would be jet lagged so he didn’t. He checked that his laptop and phone were charging. He checked his flight time and set an alarm. He fell asleep.

* * *

Day of the Flights

Nick’s alarm woke him up, it was far too early to be awake. _Why was he awake?_ _Oh Yeah!_ _To catch his flight to England, to see George and Clay._ He pushed off his covers, grabbing his phone and charger. He brushed his teeth, putting his toothbrush and toothpaste into his suitcase, he changed putting on his pjs in his suitcase and zipped it up, he put his laptop and it’s charger into his backpack, putting his phone charger in it as well. He brought his bags down the stairs and made himself a bowl of cereal.

“You’re already out of bed?” His mom asked, when she came into the room.

“Awake and ready, I get to see my best friends today!”

His mom ate a quick breakfast and he moved his bags to the car.

He checked his suitcase and went through security, he sat at his gate until he boarded his plane and he was on his way to England.

* * *

Clay woke up to his alarm, after a few seconds his brain kicked into gear, he got up pushing his blankets off, pulling his phone off the charger and putting said charger in his backpack, he brushed his teeth, put his laptop and charger in his backpack, he changed and put his toothbrush, toothpaste, and pjs in his suitcase zipping it up. He brought them right out to his Dad’s car. He warmed up some leftover pancakes.

His Dad came down and grabbed a breakfast bar, “Ready to go?”

“Yes,” He nodded.

He hugged his Dad before he went into the airport.

He checked his suitcase and went through security, he sat going through his twitter feed until he boarded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope You Enjoyed!
> 
> Kudos and Comments are Appreciated!
> 
> Also the stream on Dec 4th (today), I just ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.


	6. Together!

They went back to the beach once they finished lunch with Wilbur.

George’s eyes widened, “I should grab my colorblind glasses one of the days you guys are here.”

“Only if you want to,” Sapnap said.

“I’ll bring them tomorrow,” He said.

“You get to see us! In color!” Clay said.

“You say that like I see in Grayscale,” George laughed.

“You see in Grayscale, plus Blue, Yellow, and Brown so…” Sapnap pointed out.

George rolled his eyes.

* * *

“Your eyes are so green, wow.”

Clay chuckled.

“This is like your Minecraft skin all over again,” Sapnap laughed.

“Shut up!” George said, cheeks flaming.

Clay and Sapnap continued laughing, George joining soon after.

* * *

Three days later

George decided to stay over at his friend's hotel room for the night. They had shifted the living room area so they could pull out the sofa bed.

All three were asleep in their beds. Two out of three sleeping soundly.

“Come Here Sapnap!”

“Fuck!”

“How’d he find us?!” George asked.

He laughed, a terrifying laugh.

“Don’t engage him, run away!” Bad said.

“We’re trying,” George yelled.

Nothing…

“SAPNAP!” George yelled.

Red, that was all he could see. Blood, _so much blood, why was there blood?_

“George run, get out of here,” Sapnap said, strained, breaking into coughs afterwards.

He stumbled back, trying to form words, trying to apologize like it would change anything.

Nothing…

A sword swinging, a choked off scream.

He’s bolting up in his bed, breath already hard to get. Tears started running down his face, he couldn’t be quiet if he tried. _He couldn’t breathe._

“Clay.”

It was so much more black, _why was it becoming more black._

The light next to his bed flipped on.

“George what?”

“Hey Clay, can you hear me?”

He could, he forced his body to nod.

“Can you breathe with me?”

_Breathe? No, he could do that_ , his breathing picked up more.

There were hands on his face, “Clay, can you look at me, please?” Nick asked.

He opened his eyes, when had he closed them? He met worried Black eyes. Sapnap covered in blood, coughing, he jerked back, eyes closing again.

“Nick,” George said softly.

The hands on his face retreated, he missed the contact. A different hand touched his face, another on one of his hands, getting it out of his hair and placing it on a chest, he could feel the measured rise and fall of it.

He unconsciously matched his own breathing to the measured breathing his hand was feeling.

He opened his eyes, George’s left hand was on his cheek, his right hand holding Clay’s left hand to his chest.

“You’re okay, we’re all safe.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, retreating his hand from George.

“No sorries are allowed here,” It was Nick who said it, from where he was standing next to the bed.

_He’s alive, He’s okay._

George backed up, “You okay?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m good.”

“No, you’re not,” Nick said, finally sitting back down on the bed, giving him space he didn’t need. He needed to know Nick was okay.

He made a small sound in the bad of his throat at the space in between him and Nick.

“Do you want me to get up,” Nick started to get up again.

Clay’s right hand moved out of his hair to grab Nick’s wrist, he shook his head, “Stay, please.”

Nick settled back onto the bed.

Clay pulled him into a hug.

Nick paused for a second before returning the hug.

Clay buried his face in Nick’s shoulder.

After a bit he pulled back.

“Do you want to talk about it?” George asked, gently.

“I found you, I stabbed Sap, there was so much blood, then I think I hit George.”

“You think?” Nick asked.

“There was blackness in between,” he said quietly.

“Oh Clay, it’s okay, we’re all okay,” George said.

“I’m okay, you haven’t hurt me,” Nick said.

They sat in silence.

“Do you think you can go back to sleep?” George asked.

He shook his head, “I can’t do anything that has to do with darkness right now.”

“And that’s okay,” Nick said.

“Do I have to put in a password to use whichever Netflix you connected to the TV?” George asked.

“I don’t think so,” Nick said.

George brought up Netflix and pulled up the movie the three had wanted to watch.

At some point during the night Nick told Bad and Ant that Clay had, had a nightmare.

* * *

No matter if they were separated by time zones or not, Clay knew his friends would be there for him, It didn’t matter how fake it sounded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope You Enjoyed the Story!
> 
> Kudos and Comments are Appreciated!
> 
> I have so many fics I'm never going to be able to catch up to the SMP.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope You Enjoyed!
> 
> Kudos and Comments are appreciated!


End file.
